First, I'd like to say that I'm glad there is a new forum. My son was diagnosed in Dec. 2003. I used the old forum daily for months. As time went on I only view the forum from time to time. I'm glad for parents in the throws of this devestating disease there is somewhere for them to go to talk and listen to other parents.

I write this email, knowing that there may be responses to the contrary. I truly believe, whether through positively charge ions in the carpet cleaner or a chemicals, that professional carpet cleaning caused my little boy's Kawasaki disease.

Early December 2003, my son went to childcare on a wednesday. Later we found out that the carpets had been cleaned tuesday night rather than on the weekend which was normal protocol. A snow storm had kept the cleaning crew away that weekend. Barely two at the time, my Colby probably rolled around all day on damp carpet. By thursday he came home with a rash. Doctors sent us home both thursday and friday with benedryl! He simply got worse. As parents, never having heard of Kawasaki, We were starting to really freak out (cant think of a better term!!!) By saturday morning Kawasaki was really starting to rear it's ugly head! Swollen genetitals, feet, hands, and mouth. Actually all of the signs were present. I took him to the ER. When I was finally seen by a doctor I was at my wits end. I said to him, "There is something very wrong with my little boy and you're not sending me home with another load of Benedryl!!!" He assured me he wasn't and that my son may very well have a rare disease. I almost fell on the floor, and our life changed forever as we began the process of understanding what is known about Kawasaki!
The point is, I had never had my carpets professionally cleaned at home. I believe that this was the first (and only!!) time my child had been exposed to wet carpets and a day later the rash started.

I find the info on the forum very interesting regarding positively charged ions. It makes sense that there are air purifiers and cleaning products used world wide that would use ions to pick up dirt!

I had the same experience, except my parents had our carpets cleaned. (THis was back in the early 80's that I got KD) I had been playing on the floor, as most kids do, and a few days later I was very tired and didn't want to do anything. Went to the ER and my parents were told I had the flu. Went home and got worse. Had temp of 105. Went to a medical center where a doctor recognized what I had and admitted me to the hospital. Was in there 3 weeks with swollen glands, genitals, hands and feet peeled, strawberry tongue...THe works. Happy to say that I am 28 and really don't have any effects. Long story short- it happens too often, in my opinion, to not have something to do with carpet cleaning.

My son had Kawasaki Disease when he was four (17 years ago) Had multiple aneurisms in coronary arteries, but no irregular heart activity. Takes an aspirin a day, otherwise lives a normal life. After he was sick, I heard about the possibility of carpet cleaning (and carpet mites) being a cause. Although there has been no proof, to this day, I don't clean my carpets unless he will be out of the house at least 24 hours and I use a cleaner that kills dust mites. When he was young I made a point of keeping him away from wet carpet. Can't be too careful when the cause is unknown. Best wishes

I would agree that that one can not be too careful about carpet cleaning and the onset of Kawasaki..
I think it has something to do with a weakened immune system from any cause.. and whatever happens when you carpet clean mixed together

My son had Kd in October of 2003 and the daycare he attends had cleaned the carpet. It is the only carpet that I can say he was in contact with that had been cleaned.. He had repeated ear infections - for about 9 months in a row and I believe his immune system was depressed as a result.

I also wondered whether it had anything to do with certain kinds of carpets. My In-laws had about a month before my son had gotten KD - Brand new Oriental Floor Rugs.. The weekend we went there was the weekend that he got KD and the first exposure to the carpets..
INterestingly enough my Neice also got a rare medical thing around the same time.. She developed Shingles at 9 months old.. and they could not determine that she had Chicken Pox Prior to the Shingles..
Could it have been the carpet.. ?

We cleaned our carpets this summer and we left the house for the whole weekend after we did it.. Whether there is a link or not..

My 12 month yr old son was released from the hospital 3 weeks ago and now is doing fine. The thing is that I came home the night before last and my sister was steam cleaning the carpets. I kept him upstairs unitl the next day but does anyone think that it could still have an effect on him?

shannonpsu wrote:I had the same experience, except my parents had our carpets cleaned. (THis was back in the early 80's that I got KD) I had been playing on the floor, as most kids do, and a few days later I was very tired and didn't want to do anything. Went to the ER and my parents were told I had the flu. Went home and got worse. Had temp of 105. Went to a medical center where a doctor recognized what I had and admitted me to the hospital. Was in there 3 weeks with swollen glands, genitals, hands and feet peeled, strawberry tongue...THe works. Happy to say that I am 28 and really don't have any effects. Long story short- it happens too often, in my opinion, to not have something to do with carpet cleaning.

I think the problem may be voltage on the carpet, up to 25,000 volts over a large surface area. Same problem on vinyl flooring, develops ~ 12,000 volts. The voltage is triggering electrical discharge in the child.

We were moving homes on 19-Aug-16. Removing Furnitures resulted in Carpet Dust and our 16m old daughter was playing all over the house. She got fever the same night, rashes on next day. NHS [London] sent us back from A&E twice before admitting her the third time and treated her for KD after symptoms were partial. If only we knew the cause of KD

"Dust can carry static charge (Voltage) That's why people are cautious with dust on the inside of computers as they can short-circuit the electronics or inside.

Interestingly, dust particles in those huge grain silos; if given an ignition source - usually a spark - can produce such a large explosion that it blows off the rough of the silo.

While it wouldn't conduct full current flow per se; the suspended particles are able to carry electric charge and differences between the charges of the particles allows dust to have conductivity."

I think the kids are getting shocked. Same as in martial arts where kids are generating lots of friction with bare feet on rubber mats. Large triboelectricity between skin and rubber. The flooring should be grounded. Cotton and wood will create much less voltage.

I think you can clean your carpet with what you want, but just remember:

1). A synthetic carpet will hold up to 25,000 volts of electric potential with lots of surface area for electrons to hide/build up charge
2) Friction from the mechanical action of the cleaning machine with the carpet can build lots of electric charge
3) Friction from the mechanical action of a kid crawling on the floor can create lots of electric charge
4) A carpet that holds lots of electric charge that then becomes damp with an electrolyte (cleaning solution of ions or ) now has a low resistance path for electric current to flow across the surface through the electrolyte to “shock” a child crawling on it.